The fields around the abbey are now all cultivated, and the ruins are
enclosed with stone dykes, as shown by double lines on the Plan (Fig.
1464); so that the few fragments which remain are now properly
protected. Within the dykes almost nothing is visible but a dense mass
of trees and brushwood, with mounds of ruins in the utmost confusion. A
gable at the north-west corner stands entire (Fig. 1465), with a
round-arched vault adjoining, about 21 feet long by 10 feet 6 inches
wide and 10 feet high. This is one of the
[Illustration: FIG. 1467.--Inchaffray Abbey. Interior of North Gable.]
cellars of the western range of buildings. The walls of this range are
fairly entire along their whole length for a height of 7 or 8 feet. The
south end wall is also standing for about the same height. The length of
this range from north to south is about 97 feet 7 inches. It is probable
that the adjoining cellar to the south is entire, but the place is so
covered with vegetation that little can be ascertained. The doorway
entering from the cloister to the north-west cellar is undoubtedly of an
early date. Not much of it remains, but enough to enable the Plan (Fig.
1466) to be made. The nook shaft, a fragment of the capital of which
exists, is not later than the beginning of the thirteenth century.
The high gable adjoining (Fig. 1467) is certainly in part at least of a
later date; the upper part and the chimney, with its corbelled cope,
being of the sixteenth or seventeenth century. On the first floor there
has been a large fireplace, the flue of which is still partly visible
(see Fig. 1467). A part of the north wall of the cloister stands near
the gable. This was part of the south wall of the church (see Plan), and
the greater portion of the church would thus be situated outside the
present enclosing dyke on the north side.
There are indications at the north-east corner of the surviving gable
(at A on Plan) of a wall having extended northwards, which was probably
the west wall of the church. At the junction of the south wall of the
church and the wall of the western range, and at the height of about 15
feet above the ground, there still exists the corner corbel for
supporting the roof of the cloister walk. We can remember when there
were other corbels along the church wall also, but they have now
disappeared. The part of this wall now standing is in a very precarious
state. It evidently extended eastwards for about 120 feet, when it met a
cross wall, now represented by a mass of rough masonry about 7 or 8 feet
square (see Plan). This mass may represent one of the great piers of a
central tower. There are other pieces of masonry throughout the
enclosure with numerous trenches and mounds, but, owing to the rank
vegetation, it is impossible to make a more satisfactory Plan than the
one now given. If the place were cleared out and a judicious search
made, considerable remains would doubtless be found.
The average length of the enclosure as it now stands is about 210 feet.